That Don't Impress Me Much
by AdminEmmaWeasley
Summary: The journey of James and Lily throughout their seven years at Hogwarts. Rated to be safe. Cute fluffy fluff NOW ACTUALLY COMPLETE
1. Chapter One Year One

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

James Potter shifted from one foot to another as he waited in line to get on the train. He shuffled forward and soon enough he was searching for a place to sit. He found an empty compartment near the middle of the train and settled down for the long ride.

A few seconds later, a thin boy with black, scruffy hair tapped on the glass door. He edged it open and asked, "Can I sit with you?" James grinned and nodded, and the stranger grinned back and sat down. "I'm Sirius. Sirius Black."

After about a minute, a boy with crisp clothes and tidy hair tapped on the glass door. "May I sit with you?" He asked politely. Sirius and James, who had decided to be best friends, nodded. "My name is Remus Lupin, by the way. What are your names?"

About five minutes later, a boy with crooked teeth and a twitchy nose rapped on the glass door. "Hey, uh, everywhere else is full. Can I sit in here?" The three boys nodded and the boy smiled. "Thanks. I'm Peter."

The four boys (well, mostly James and Sirius) talked and ate sweets as the Hogwarts Express chugged steadily towards their new school.

When the train finally stopped, the four boys heard a loud voice call out, "Firs' years! Firs' years! Follow me! Come on now, hurry along!"

Soon enough they were all in boats heading towards the giant castle. The boys stared in awe at the place that would be their home for the next seven years. They hardly noticed when the boats suddenly stopped. They only came out of it when the giant man started shouting, "A'right, firs' years! Follow me into the castle!"

They quickly hopped (well, in Peter's case, fell) out of their boat and followed the giant towards the castle. When they got inside, a tall woman with a long black robe and black hair told them to wait.

So they did.

A few minutes later the lady came back and told them that they would now be sorted by the 'Sorting Hat'.

"What's a Sorting Hat?" Sirius mumbled to no-one in particular.

"It's a magic hat that decides which house everyone should be in," Remus answered instantly.

James smirked as all of the first years scuttled into the Great Hall.

And great it was.

After gaping at the four gigantic tables filled with children, the enchanted ceiling that looked like the night sky, and just the incredible size of the Hall, they made it to the very front, where they saw an old scruffy hat sitting on a stool.

One by one, the first years were called up to be sorted. The Sorted Hat would shout out one of four houses - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin - and the other students in the Hall would clap and cheer. Soon enough, Sirius' name was called. He wouldn't admit it, or show it, but he was nervous. His older cousins were staring at him, willing him to be in Slytherin. Their whole family had been in Slytherin, and they deserved it. But Sirius knew he was very different to the rest of his family, and he was relieved when the Hat immediately shouted, "Gryffindor!"

As Sirius passed them, he gave James and Peter a high-five, but Remus just grinned at him and shook his hand.

Remus was the next of the four to be called up. The Sorting Hat hesitated. He whispered to Remus, "Hmm. You would fit easily into Ravenclaw. And yet... No, not Ravenclaw..." Then the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

Peter went up just before James.

"Hmmm..." whispered the Sorting Hat. "Tricky..."

"Please put me in Gryyfindor," Peter pleaded.

"But you could do well in Slytherin," the Sorting Hat whispered.

"No! Please put me in Gryffindor! Please!" Peter begged.

"I don't know..."

"Please! That's where you put my friends! No-one else even looked at me on the train."

The Sorting Hat sighed before shouting, "Gryffindor!"

The Hall burst into applause as Peter sighed in relief and scuttled over to where Remus and Sirius were waiting to pat him on the back. And when James was also put into Gryffindor, the boys knew that they would be best friends and (well, James and Sirius knew) they would cause mayhem throughout their years at Hogwarts.

After the magnificent feast - which the boys all enjoyed thoroughly - they were sent to their dorms. As they followed the Gryyfindor prefect through the maze of a castle, a small, red-headed girl caught Sirius' eye. He nudged James in the ribs and jerked his thumb towards her. "She's pretty," he said with a sly smirk.

James shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Sort of."


	2. Chapter Two Year Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

And also note - I've just changed my username to AdminEmmaWeasley :P

"I don't believe it."

"Mmm."

"It's not possible!"

"Mmm."

You've never done anything like this before!"

"Mmm."

Sirius just shook his head, dumbfounded, as Peter asked, "How'd it happen, Remus?"

Remus shrugged.

James stared at him. "Remus, you got _detention_."

"Mhmm."

Sirius looked as if he would faint at any moment.

"Why didn't you at least ask to borrow my Invisibilty cloak?" James continued. " And what were you sneaking out of the castle in the middle of the night for, anyway?"

"Certainly wasn't a girl," Sirius commented.

Instead of giving him a dirty look, Remus just shrugged. The three boys stared at him in confusion.

Remus had been acting strange for weeks. The boys had been best friends for a year now, but only a few weeks into their second year, they felt they didn't know Remus at all.

After Potions, James pulled Remus aside. "What's going on with you, mate?" He asked, obviously worried.

Remus shrugged.

"Stop doing that! You can't just shut up shop and leave us all hanging! If there's something going on, we want to help. You know we do."

Remus stared at him.

James waited.

Remus sighed. "A month."

James blinked. "What?"

"Wait a month. Then you'll know what's happenening."

That's when James noticed the scratches on Remus' face and arms. "You didn't have those yesterday," James commented suspiciously. "What were you doing last night?"

"A month," Remus repeated, then left.

"Come on," Sirius said, tugging at James' sleeve. "We're gonna play that trick on Lily now or later?"

James rolled his eyes. "Now, I guess."

Sirius grinned. "Got the stuff." James nodded. "Good. I'll wait in the hall."

They had already played four pranks on the little redhead. Sirius spent a lot of time thinking up different ways to get her attention. Often this would also mean attracting the attention of her best friend, Severus. James often had to hold Severus back. Magically, of course.

Remus was right. Just over a month later, he told the other three that they would all be sneaking out of the castle that night. After a couple of hours, while sitting in Charms class, James grabbed Sirius' arm.

"Sirius," he hissed. "Full moon tonight."

Sirius stared at him. "So?"

"So," James whispered, "tonight is when Remus told us to sneak out."

Sirius stared at him. "So?"

James sighed. "So, I think I know what Remus is hiding."

Sirius stared at him. Then his eyes widened.

About five hours later, Remus told them that when they snuck out, they could only stay with him until he said otherwise. Peter was reluctant but James and Sirius agreed immediately.

And they kept their word.

Remus grunted in pain before telling them to go. Sirius ran. James grabbed Peter by the wrist and dragged him away. They hid a fair distance away and pulled James' Invisibility cloak over them. They watched as Remus grew taller and his face grew longer. They stared as he grew claws and hair sprouted all over him. Soon enough he was howling at the moon and, luckily, stalking away from them.

As the boys crept back to Hogwarts, Peter asked, "So Remus is a..."

"Yep."

"And that's why he got..."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh."

"Yeah."


	3. Chapter Three Year Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD Also, thank you to everyone who has read this story so far - it means a lot :)

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

Ten minutes into his third year at Hogwarts and Sirius already had detention. As James boasted for weeks afterwards, that was a new record. Of course, it could have been much, much sooner. Sirius had snuck seven tiny fireworks into his trunk and, unfortunately, they didn't go off as soon as the boys got off the train.

They went off during Professor Dumbledore's welcoming speech.

Professor McGonagall had glared at Sirius and James as soon as she got over the shock of the first firework. The other students thought it was fantastic. The professors... Not so much.

"I've never been so proud of anyone in my _life_!" James gushed later in the common room.

Sirius kicked the floor with his heel. "Shucks, t'weren't nothin'." He grinned and James laughed loudly.

"You could have been expelled for that, you know," a tiny voice said.

James, Sirius and Peter turned to find the small redhead staring at Sirius, who instantly flashed her a dashing smile.

"It's worth it when I see the smiles of my fellow students," Sirius declared, sounding dreadfully like a politician. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Don't worry, he confuses me, too."

James, Sirius and Peter turned to find Remus staring apathetically at Sirius. Sirius shrugged and smirked, and James laughed loudly again.

The next day, James got his first detention of the year. He had snuck into Filch's office and placed dung bombs in five carefully planned locations. When they went off, they effectively stunk out the whole area, and James couldn't contain his glee.

"Why are you so intent on causing havoc?" Remus asked him and Sirius later that day.

They looked at each other, shrugged and said in unison, "'Cause it's fun."

Remus sighed, knowing better than to retaliate. Peter just sat and listened, as usual.

After finding out about Remus' "Furry little problem" (as James put it) the other three spent a long time thinking about how to support Remus and make him realise that there was nothing wrong or abnormal about him. Over the summer, the boys had been trying to find out how best to become Animagi - wizards that could transform into animals and back again whenever they chose. They were getting closer, but very slowly, and they were hoping to ask a teacher about it. Preferably Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher. Dispite his mischief, she seemed to be almost amused by James, and frequently said that he was the best Transfiguration student she had ever had. She had also mentioned a couple of times that she had heard Madam Hooch (the flying teacher) say that his flying was very impressive. She convinced James to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he got the position of Chaser. Severus didn't seem to be too happy about it for some reason, but James was far too popular to notice the disdain of the Slytherin.

Speaking of which, there he was.

"Hey, Snivellus!" James shouted at him down the hallway. "You're in love with Evans, aren't you?"

As the crowd around him laughed, Severus turned slowly, glared at him, then cursed him. James hexed him back, and Severus left as fast as he could. The crowd had burst into applause and James, grinning from ear to ear, was congratulated several times.

After pondering the reaction to him hexing Severus, James started hexing other students. To everyone else, it seemed to be random and meaningless to him, but he enjoyed the praise and encouragement he always got from his followers. Having rich and powerful parents had made him relatively spoiled, without him even noticing. But Lily Evans always eyed him with dislike and he didn't quite understand why.

"Excuse me, Professor?" James began after class one day.

"Yes, Potter?"

"We haven't learned about Animagi yet..." She eyed him curiously but didn't comment. "When will we start on them?"

"Soon," she said, looking at him suspiciously.

"How soon?"

"Soon enough. Now, off you go - you'll be late for your next class."

James sighed and left. "She wouldn't tell me anything," he muttered to Sirius as they sat in Herbology. Sirius sighed, but didn't reply.

When the lessons on Animagi finally came around, the boys found out the Animagi were closely monitered by the Ministry of Magic. "Can't have that," Sirius had murmured to James. They had also discovered that McGonagall wouldn't tell them how to become one. They all sighed in frustration.

"You'll have to figure it out for yourselves," Remus said grimly.


	4. Chapter Four Year Four

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

James Potter shifted from one foot to the other. Lily Evans was standing just outside the Gryffindor common room with Severus, laughing at something he had said. _At least Sirius won't kill me for talking to her,_ he thought. Sirius was over his schoolboy crush on her and was quite content ignoring the girls. That didn't stop them fawning over him as well as James and Remus.

James, a very popular boy, was feeling nervous. _Oh, get it over with, you git._ James sighed, squared his shoulders and approached them. Severus saw him out of the corner of his eye and turned to stare at him. He gulped but kept walking. "Hey, Lily," he said, trying to be polite.

"Potter."

He invertedly took a step backwards. She glared at him. He could tell that his request would very likely by shut down, but he had to ask. "I was hoping you could help me with Potions."

She crossed her arms and stared at him. "Get Lupin to," she said.

James looked at the floor. "Uh... He's kind of... mad at me... Um... Nothing major... He'll get over it... But he won't help me..."

He could feel Lily's gaze on him. He looked at her and she seemed to be thinking about it. That was a very good sign. Finally she said, "Only if you help me in Tranfisguration."

James grinned in relief. That was one of his best subjects. "Of course, anything. Thanks, Lily."

"Alright, Potter."

James sighed. "When should we meet up then, Evans?"

"I have a Charms essay due tomorrow so I'm busy tonight" - James held back a snide remark about why she had time to laugh with Severus - "but tomorrow after classes should be fine."

"Okay, great. See you then." He edged away, aware of Severus staring at him.

"So, how'd it go?" Sirius asked without taking his eyes off the chessboard in front of him. He was playing with Remus, who avoided eye contact with James.

James sighed and flopped onto the couch beside Sirius. "Well," he said, shifting in his seat to get more comfortable, "she said yes. But I've gotta help her in Transfiguration."

"That'll be easy," Sirius smirked. James watched in silence for a few mintues as Remus and Sirius played Wizards chess, a very violent version of the boardgame. He soon got bored and, with Peter, went to play some pranks on a group of hapless second-years.

Luckily, Lily was around, too. _Yes,_ James thought, _two birds with one stone._

"Hey, Evans," he called out before levitating the group of squealing girls right off the ground.

"Potter!" she shouted before performing the counter-curse and telling the shaking preteens to run. Then she turned on James. "What is wrong with you?"

James took a step back before regaining his infamous confidence and laughing. "What? I was just having a bit of fun. Did you see the look on their faces?"

Lily looked too angry to speak. Instead, she glared at him, turned on her heel and stormed away. James looked at Peter. "What's her problem?" Peter just shrugged.

"Please, Sev," he heard her say, "won't you wash that silly thing off your arm?" Obviously she had found Severus lurking just around the corner.

"It's a Dark Mark," his voice said proudly. "It looks like the ones that all Death Eaters have. Avery drew it."

Lily sounded furious - she was shouting but James and Peter couldn't figure out exactly what she was saying. "We'd better get out of the line of fire," James muttered before striding away with Peter scuttling after him.

"We've gotta get that Sever kid," James muttered as he rejoined Sirius on the couch. "One of his mates drew a Dark Mark on his arm."

That got the attention of both Sirius and Remus. "What?"

"You heard," James said, leaning forward as if he harboured a great secret. "It's the mark of a Death Eater. Obviously, Snivellus wants to join up."

"Lily would kill 'im," Sirius whispered. The other three muttered their agreement.

However, their fourth year was nearly over, and by the time they had finished their exams and started thinking of ways to change Severus' mind about the Dark Arts, it was time to go home for the summer.

On the last day, they decided to do something special. At Christmas time, they had turned the railings on the stairs into mistletoe that whipped anyone caught snogging. At Easter time, they had turned as many door knobs as possible into chocolate that made anyone who ate them spit in seven colours. At Halloween time, they had charmed the pumpkins on the Slytherin table to spit slugs at anyone who got too close. On the last day, they charmed the front steps so that they flattened when anyone tried to use them.


	5. Chapter Five Year Five

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

The boys spent their summer studying Animagi and trying their hardest to find out how to become one. Also, James had found himself thinking more and more about Lily. Why? Oh, he couldn't say why. All he knew was that as soon as he got back to Hogwarts, he was going to ask her out.

And that's exactly what he did.

Unfortunately, it didn't go the way he would have hoped.

After glaring at him for at least thirty seconds, she shouted, "You are the last person in the _world_ I would go out with!" before storming off, leaving James quite bewildered.

Sirius came up to him with a slight smirk and asked, "What was that all about?"

James sighed. "Nothing."

"So," Sirius said with a grin, rubbing his hands together, "are we ready?" James looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before he remembered. The boys had decided over the summer that they wouldn't play just one prank on Severus - they would play as many pranks on him as possible. Perhaps then he would think twice about being an aspiring Death Eater.

They're first was quite simple, though not as soon as they had hoped. It was a couple of days later before they finally spotted Severus outside, seemingly doing nothing. The posse trooped up to him, alone by a tree, and James levitated him five feet into the air, hanging by his leg. As everyone laughed, Severus grabbed his wand out of his pocket. Sirius pounced forward and nicked it before Severus could utter a word. James, propelled by the laughter of his mates, started swaying Severus from side to side. The laughter got louder and James grinned proudly.

Throughout their fifth year, they played several well-planned pranks on Severus. Sometimes Lily was there, and sometimes she wasn't. Every time she showed up, James would ask her to go out with him, and she refused. But once, after playing yet another prank on Severus, Lily shouted at James to leave him alone, calling him an ignorant toe rag. James lifted the tickling curse he had put on Severus, who started spitting insults at James, Sirius, Remus, Peter...and Lily.

"...the only reason you stopped was because a Mudblood told you to!"

Everyone gasped.

No-one could believe he had just called his best friend such a horrible name. Lily took one shocked look at him and ran, sobbing. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU MISERABLE WASTE OF SPACE!" James shouted at Severus, pointing his wand at the Slytherin's throat. "TAKE IT BACK NOW!"

Severus stared at him in horror, as if shocked by his words, then ran. James went to follow him, but Sirius and Remus held him back. "He's not worth it, man," Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, he's just a stupid Slytherin," Remus added.

James glared after him and fought against the strong grip of his friends. "Don't worry, mate," Sirius said, "we'll get him." James finally relaxed somewhat and nodded.

Around the middle of the year, James and Sirius had mastered the art of being Animagi. They continued to help Peter until, finally, he mastered it, too. They accompanied Remus once a month to stay with him when he transformed. Luckily, with Sirius transforming into a huge black dog and James transforming into a stag, they could stop Remus from eating Peter, who turned into a rat.

Severus always managed to follow them, wanting to get them expelled, but he could never get past the vicious Whomping Willow.

"Why aren't we going with Remus tonight?" Peter asked James one night near the end of the year.

"Sirius didn't want us to. Something about being tired." James scoffed. "Yeah right. Who knows what he's up to?"

Sirius pranced into the dorm with a very smug grin. "What are you so happy about?" James asked him, eyeing him suspiciously.

Sirius grinned even wider. "I just told Snivellus that if he wants to reach our hide-out, all he has to do is push down on the knot under the Whomping WIllow."

"What?" James shouted before racing outside. He was just in time. Severus had just reached the Whomping Willow with a long stick in his hands. James reached him just as he was about to disappear down the tunnel and hurredly pulled him away. The Whomping Willow came back to life quite suddenly and the boys had to move quickly to avoid it's treacherous branches. They lay on the grass, just out of reach of the crazed tree, panting.

Severus stared at the tree, apparently in shock after being so suddenly saved. James, still getting his breath, said, "You're welcome."

Severus stared at him before jumping up and running back to the castle. James rolled his eyes. "That's grattitude," he muttered to himself before heading back to the castle.

The next day, James discovered the real reason behind Severus' stares.

He had seen Remus.


	6. Chapter Six Year Six

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

"Hey, Padfoot."

"Mmm."

"Why do you think Lily keeps turning me down?"

"Dunno."

"Hey, Wormtail."

"Yes, Prongs?"

"Why do you think Lily keeps turning me down?"

"I don't know, Prongs."

"Hey, Moony."

"What."

"Why do you think Lil..."

"Oh, I don't know know - maybe because you continually hexed her best friend."

"He's not her best friend! And besides, I'm _doing_ it for _her_!"

"You were hexing him before he called her a...you-know-what."

"Yeah, 'cause she hated the fact that he was so keen on the Dark Arts and I was trying to convince him to change his mind!"  
Remus sighed, but argued no further.

"Besides," James continued, "it was _Padfoot_ that nearly got Snivellus killed, not me - I saved his life!"

"Yes, you did, Prongs," Peter said admiringly. "Brilliantly brave of you."

Luckily, Severus had gone straight to Professor McGonagall after seeing werewolf Remus. She, of course, already knew, and gave Severus detention for being outside after dark, along with a very strict warning to keep Remus' "condition" a secret. What was also very lucky was that neither Sirius nor James got into any trouble at all - James knew every secret passageway in and out of the castle so he wasn't caught, and Severus was so worked up about Remus being a werewolf that he completely forgot about Sirius' nasty trick.

Unluckily, Lily still wouldn't talk to James, and he couldn't understand why.

So he decided to ask her.

"Hey, Evans."

"What do you want, Potter?"

"I want you to go to Hogsmeade with me."

"I've said no to you at least twenty times," Lily pointed out, crossing her arms. "What makes you think I'll have changed my mind?"

"Why won't you go out with me?" James whined.

"Oh, I don't know know - maybe because you continually hexed my best friend!"

"He's not...!" James sighed. "Okay, okay. I've stopped. I haven't done a thing to him all year. So why do you keep saying no?"

"Because you've stopped hexing Severus, but you still hex random students. You think it's _entertaining_."

James smirked. "What? Don't _you_ think it's entertaining?"

"No!"

James stepped back. He said nothing. Lily sighed, obviously exasperated, and left. He stared after her, and silently promised never to hex another student for no reason ever again. No, scrap that. Never hex anyone without a _very good reason_. Yes. That's more like it. He spun on his heel and marched back to his dorm, feeling very righteous.

He stuck to his promise. He didn't hex another student all year. He also made sure that Lily was within hearing distance when he told Sirius, Remus and Peter to follow his example.

"Will you go out with me now?" He asked Lily after a few months of his hexing fast.

"No."

"Why not? I've stopped hexing people!"

"Yes, and you still lounge around like a king in all your classes. Has it ever occured to you that if you actually tried, you would do well?"

He stared at her. "You really think so?"

"You're clever, James. You just need to try harder."

So he did. By the end of the year, he was very near the top of every one of his classes. Only Remus and Lily were above him. Sirius, following his example, wasn't far behind.

On the last day, James asked one last time. "Lily, will you please go out with me?"

She looked at him for a little while, then gave a small smile and said, "Maybe."


	7. Chapter Seven Year Seven

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Please review - I'd love to hear some feedback on my story so far xD

I have written seven chapters of this story - one for each year at Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

The Marauders (James, Sirius, Remus and Peter) walked through the massive doors to Hogwarts. They had come up with the name for their little group over the holidays and, because they all missed Hogwarts so much, they had made a special map of the castle, along with all of the secret passageways they had discovered over the years. They had charmed it to be invisible when not in use and to insult anyone who tried to read it. They had also come up with special phrases to open and close the map so that only they could use it.

James' Head Boy badge shone - he had certainly spent enough time polishing it. Sirius was acting as if the glare off it had blinded him, and was leaning heavily on Remus, who rolled his eyes but did nothing else. They were all glad to be back at Hogwarts, but for different reasons. James was glad to be able to be Head Boy alongside the Head Girl - none other than Lily Evans. Sirius was anxious to be as far away from his family as possible (he had run away over the last summer holidays, just before their sixth year, and was now living with James and his family). Remus, though he wouldn't talk about it, was glad to be back so that he could see a fascinating girl - Nymphadora Tonks - with whom he was very quickly falling in love with. And Peter? Well, he just tottered along behind the other three, glad to be wherever they were.

When they entered the Great hall, Lily stared at James as if he had suddenly grown another head. He just grinned at her and fingered his shining badge. She stared at it as if she expected it to jump out at her and bite her on the nose. James, confident but no longer arrogant, bravely decided to sit beside her, and to his astonishment, she didn't object. They even managed polite and intelligent conversation throughout the grand feast. That night, when everyone else was in bed and they were on lookout duty, they talked even more. The conversation wasn't drenched in forced politeness this time, but they managed to go without insulting each other.

As the days, weeks and months went on, James and Lily found themselves spending a lot of time together as the leading students of the school. They quickly forgot about having to be civil to one another (well, in Lily's case, anyway) and found that they got on rather well. Of course, Remus' relationship with Nymphadora Tonks was the subject of quite a few of their early conversations as they searched for things to talk about, but soon enough they loosened up and started talking about themselves and each other. "You know," Lily said one evening as they sat in a hallway with their backs against the wall, "I never hated you or anything."

"Really?"

"Really. I just hated how you treated Severus and the other kids."

"Yeah," James said, looking at his shoes. "I _was_ pretty horrible." Lily looked at him sympathetically. "_You_ were the one how made me change, you know." Her expression changed to one of confusion. "You said that you wouldn't go out with me because I kept hexing other kids for no reason. I thought it would impress you, but obviously not. That's why I stopped."

Her lovely green eyes were shining. "Really?"

James smiled - not the dashing smile that he had often flashed her - a real smile, and nodded.

She smiled sweetly back. "You thought it would impress me?"

"Yeah." He scoffed at himself. "How wrong was I?"

"But," she said, shaking her head, "you _wanted_ to impress me."

"Of course," he said, staring straight into her eyes. She stared back, blushing slightly. He gulped. He had never been nervous when he had asked her out before. And he had asked her out millions of times, he was certain of it. But he was nervous now.

Maybe because there was finally a chance of her saying yes.

"Um..." he stammered, unable to say all the things he longed to say.

She smiled knowingly, then leaned towards him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. He lit up and grinned brightly at her. She giggled and looked away, blushing even more.

He gathered all of his Gryffindor courage, gently put a hand to her cheek, and turned her face towards him. He hesitated, then leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

It was like there were fireworks going off in his stomach. He pulled her in closer. She came willingly and put a hand on his shoulder. He wrapped his free arm around her, and she rested her other hand at the back of his neck. He moved his hand from her face down to her waist. She started playing with his hair.

After a little while - or had it been hours? - they pulled apart. "Does... Does this mean...you'll go out with me?" James asked after a few breathless seconds.

Lily smiled at him and nodded. He laughed before kissing her again.

After leaving Hogwarts, James and Lily married and had a son named Harry, who had incredible adventures during his own time at Hogwarts.

But that's another story entirely.


End file.
